OT (Slightly) MS Trainsim and attachments

Hi All.

As many lurkers here will know I also work as a volunteer on a preserved railway, Churnet Valley, In Staffs. We are looking at adding some new interactive items in the near future and one suggestion has been to acquire an old loco desk (Class 47 or similar) and have a TV screen displaying Trainsim (OR a video at other times of the route). However, it has also been asked if it can be adapted to control the Trainsim program from the original controls.

Is anyone aware if this is possible ? or even if already done ? More to the point, how could you do it ??

Reply to
Andy Sollis CVMRD
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I've often thought myself that this would be really cool thing to do, but I think it would difficult to actually do. I don't know exactly how train controls work, but I should imagine they work by changing the voltage in the control circuit for the throttle etc. whereas in Trainsim you are just pressing plus or minus buttons to do the same thing. I can't think of an easy way of translating the two actions, but I'm sure there are some knowledgable chaps in this newsgroup who could. Personally I think it would be easier to build a fake control desk using modern electrical knobs and levers and then use it to replace the genuine control desk.

Fred X

Reply to
Fred X

In the US you can buy the cab controls to use with trainsim so its possible.

Chris

Reply to
Chris

Well I don't know anything about train simulators, but I am a retired glider pilot and I have a flight simulator programme called Condor. Several individuals and clubs have been able to couple up a retired glider cockpit with normal gliding controls (control column etc) to a PC and have a large multiscreen projection which gives a very good simulation of actually flying. I expect it is not beyond the wit of man (and I expect the Americans have already done it) to do the same thing for a train simulator though I doubt it will be likely that a steam loco could be simulated. All that shovelling etc. Should be OK for diesels and electrics.

I'd try Googling.

HTH

Alistair Wright

Reply to
Alistair Wright

Reply to
Bruce Fletcher

It can be done, not by me (the constraints of the human lifetime would come into play) - You would need some gubbins attached to the controls to translate (for example) potentiometer settings into a digital value then into a simulated key press - the AT keyboard is fully reprogramable so you can feed simulated keystrokes direct to the chip). I would suggest trying to find an off-the shelf bit of kit then fit potentiometers etc on the tran panel that replicate those on the purchased unit, disconnect the supplied controls and drop wires in from the real desk. Not sure how these uber joystick thingies work as I have never een played with one.

Good luck!

Mike

Reply to
Mike Smith

It's certainly possible, and several other places (e.g. the Deltic Preservation Society in the UK, Ipswich rail museum in Australia) have already done it.

The hard part isn't getting the controls (e.g. throttle and brake) to work, that's fairly simple with an off-the-shelf A to D converter and some logic to get it to emulate keypresses on a USB keyboard.

The real hard part is getting things like the speedometer in the cab to work. For this bit, you have to give up on MS Train Sim (it just can't do it - and before anyone says "the raildriver does this", it OCR's it off the screen, meaning you have to display it on the heads-up display, ruining the effect, *and* it destroys the performance as it's doing a LOT of processing to try and get the numbers out from all the background noise). Pick another product (I think the choice right now is Auran Trainz, or wait for one of several that are currently in development), and you can get a much better simulation.

If you've got someone who wants to have a go at the electronics and/or firmware themselves, go with a logic / prototyping board. If not, then dismantling a raildriver and fitting the controls into a UK loco would provide a way that required only basic electronics knowledge (it's mainly a mechanical task to re-mount all the potentiometers in the right places). Though this way you'll still end up with a numeric speedo, rather than a proper needle...

James Moody

Reply to
James Moody

Reply to
Andy Sollis CVMRD

Andy wrote: > "Bruce Fletcher" >>

If you want to be really authentic there is a full, ready to run control stand - Base Dimensions 36 x 44 x 14 inches - at price ranges from $5,000 to $6,000 depending upon selected options.

Reply to
Bruce Fletcher

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